Young, Gifted and Green Unsigned

• 11th Dec 2006

Our story starts in a damp, dirty but irrepressibly beautiful city called Manchester. Two Irish Mancunian boys, born in Burnage, step out with a swagger intent on reaching the stars, or at the least, appearing on Top of the Pops. One of them, the older of the two, is carrying on his back a guitar. With it he has written songs that shine like a beacon of hope in an otherwise desolate post-industrial landscape. The other, younger boy, walks slightly behind his brother, impetuously kicking at stones on the cracked pavement and staring out strangers. He has the voice of an angel and the temperament of a fire in a firework factory. It’s raining now in Levenshulme but it’s a glorious day. The two young scallies with Dickensian lank brown hair and tracksuit tops enter Stockport Road pub, The Packhorse, looking for a gig. Passing a demo tape over the bar they leave on their way to forever.

We skip forward a few years: Noel and Liam Gallagher have become Rock an’ Roll stars and within the year will play a career defining gig at Knebworth to 250,000 people. Meanwhile, back in Levenshulme, Tony Hennigan, owner of The Packhorse Pub finds an old dusty tape marked ‘Oasis’ in the pubs archives. ‘Young, Gifted and Green’ is born.

YGG Unsigned at The Packhorse takes place as part of the Manchester Irish Festival. After finding inspiration in the ‘Oasis’ demo tape, Tony Hennigan decided that it was time to start the search for Manchester’s next world conquering Irish band: “I knew straight away they (Oasis) would be big, they had something about them. I decided to start the competition to give bands with Irish roots a platform on which to begin the rocky road to stardom”.

The Packhorse sits like a sleeping giant on Stockport Road. Surrounded by trendy bars and fast food restaurants it is monolithic in scale. In contrast to the traditional frontage outside, the inside is surprisingly modern with flat screen TVs on the walls and couches sitting innocuously next door to fruit machines. Its here that I meet up with Tony Hennigan on a cold day in December to discuss the highlight of YGG’s annual schedule: “It’s a bit different from when they were regulars but Noel and Liam still remember playing here. We still get tickets sent when they come and play hometown gigs”.

The competition has been going for 12 years now and started alongside the first Manchester Irish Festival. It has pushed several bands on to greater things: “Some of YGG’s previous success stories are bands making waves at the moment in Manchester. Last years winners The Times have had loads of interest from the music press and record companies as well as sell-out gigs at the (Manchester) Academy and Hard Rock Café”. Other bands doing well from previous years include Manchester band The Beans, Coy and Blofeld, who are the darlings of XFM London at the moment and are working on new material with ‘The Strokes’ producer Gordon Raphael.
Sadly, not all bands are doing as well as the terribly named Blofeld: “Andrew Whyment who plays ‘Kirk’ in ‘Coronation Street’ was in YGG with his band, they didn’t make the final cut though!”

I ask Tony about his best memories from previous years and his face lights up: “Turning away Andy Votel & the Badly Drawn Boy crew from one of our sold out heats was great, although we let them in when they pleaded with us! We also used to hold the heats at the legendary ‘Boardwalk’ (Another notorious Oasis stomping ground). We played the club’s very last night on a very cold January evening just after Christmas and we had people queuing around the block to get in. Tony Wilson who lived just opposite the venue came over to see what all the fuss was about. He later came to the final as a VIP guest”.

There are three heats to determine who plays in the final and it is down to the bands themselves to determine their own fate: “50% of the vote belongs to the audience, 50% to judges. This builds a real buzz as fans get ownership and a stake in the outcome”. The Final, during the Irish festival in March, is on the eve of St Patrick’s Day: “25% of the vote is the audience and 75% judges during the final. Two bands from each heat go through and the £1000 worth of prizes is split between the top three bands. The finals are always special. We used to pull in over 800 fans when we did it at the Palace (a nightclub in Levenshulme formally owned by Hennigan). Now were restricted to 300 at The Packhorse but the atmosphere is fantastic”.

One of the competitions previous sponsors was ex-Oasis drummer Tony McCarroll. Tony Hennigan remembers it fondly: “Tony approached us when he was setting up his own recording studio. He wanted to raise its profile. He was also a judge and brought Andy Rourke and Johnny Marr (ex-members of The Smiths) down. Peter Hook (Joy Division/New Order) popped in once as well”. These days the competition is sponsored by the Cutting Rooms Studios in Crumpsall. The top two bands win two 10 hour days of recording time at the North Manchester studio. Sponsor, Tom Winstanley, said: “YGG saw our adverts and got in touch about three years ago and we jumped at the chance to help out and blow our own trumpet”. Since its inception The Cutting Rooms has had a who’s who of Mancunian artists through its doors but is eager to develop local bands and musicians: “We are always on the side of local talent as we set up to promote it in the first place. We did have Oasis in once as well before we were called The Cutting Rooms, a session for the real fans to track down!” I ask Tom if the studio has had any Gallagher like antics since the Oasis days: “The biggest palaver was for Status Quo and Man United on the same day (The studio was used to record the 1994 No.1 single ‘Come on You Reds’) they had limos, security, film crews, and the works! It’s been quieter since but recently we’ve had the Doves, Alfie and the Gorillaz choir sessions. Mainly we get local gigging bands and rappers on a budget”.

The bands have been booked for heat one of the competition, on the 21rst of December. I ask Tony to talk me through who’s playing: “Realise’ are loud and proud. Great guitarists and I was really impressed recently when they used their artwork and films as a backdrop. ‘Elivation’ are U2 influenced professional Rock n’ Roll stars. ‘The Score’ boys are great, the real deal, Razorlight eat your heart out stuff. There’s also ‘The Black Lines’ who have fantastic lyrics, nifty guitars and a very unusual drummer with a style of his own”.

Also playing on the night is alternative Longsight band ‘King Pest’: “The band is just starting out but has got great potential” says Tony. I caught up with ‘King Pest’ bassist Andy Day to talk about the gig: “We're still quite new having only played five gigs. There’s been plenty of free beer, that’s always good”! I ask Andy what makes them different from other bands around at the moment: “I think we're fresh in that we're not trying to do what other bands are trying to do. We're not trying to sound like the popular music or past great bands. We're just doing our own distinct thing; a bit of a ‘Pixies’ influenced, heavy, melodic, dark, pop with whipped cream and cherries on top”.

The last band on the bill, ‘System Fault’, are: “Young guns, cutting edge pretenders to the crown” Says Tony. Lead Guitarist, Dan Woolfenden, would agree: “We have advanced on the music scene quite quickly! If you come to see us your guaranteed a good time, you’ll go home with a smile on your face and our songs stuck in your head”. I ask Dan if they’ve played The Packhorse before: “We played this year. It was a great gig; great music, beer, people and great organisation. What more could you ask for? Our Guitarist Andy and Singer Josh both have Irish roots so we thought we better enter this year and spread the Irish goodness within us!”

Although places for the first heat have been taken up there are still places available for heats two and three: ‘We have had a huge response already but we like to select the best unsigned bands around so we’re still accepting entries’.

Are you in a band destined to take over the world? Do you have what it takes to be the next ‘Oasis’? Whether the answer is definitely or maybe, there’s still time to enter YGG unsigned. The fully booked first heat is on the 21st of December, heat two is on the 25th of January and heat three is on the 15th of February. The final takes place on the eve of St Patrick’s Day, the 16th of March 2007.

Bands wishing to enter the competition can contact the competition Hotline on 0161 225 0706 or email mail or visit the website link.
Bands should also send a demo and biography to ‘YGG Unsigned 908 Stockport Road, Levenshulme, Manchester, M19 3BF’.